4 times more Filipino students in Korea than in 2005

MANILA, Philippines—The number of Filipino students in South Korea has quadrupled to about 400 this year from 108 in June 2005, Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Luis T. Cruz said in a news release, quoting data from the Korean Immigration Service.
"South Korea is our top source of foreign students, retirees, and tourists. It is no wonder that mutual awareness between our peoples is high. This knowledge has naturally led to situations that allow the transfer of ideas and sharing of experiences in both the school setting and beyond," Cruz said.
“The growing community of Filipino students in the country is making an impact on both academic and social landscapes as Filipino students gain prominence in schools for their cultural and scholarly contributions,” he said.
Most of the Filipino students in South Korea are beneficiaries of both short-term and long-term international scholarship programs and belong to diverse fields such as international relations, business, and the sciences. The Catholic University of Korea alone has accepted around 50 Filipino students pursuing higher education since it launched an international program in 2009.
In 2005, a group of less than 10 students from the Seoul National University started a group called Pinoy Iskolars in Korea (Piko) to provide a support system and serve as a forum for its members.
Today, Piko has more than 100 student-members from different schools and provinces throughout South Korea. These students are often tapped to take part in multicultural activities as Korean schools intensify their push for global curriculums and encourage the entry of foreign students.
"Naiimbitahan ang mga estudyante para magsalita tungkol sa Pilipinas (Students are invited to talk about the Philippines)," said Regina Arquiza, a student from the Ehwa Womans University and Piko president for two years.
She said Filipino students were also often called upon to take part in cultural festivals where they play Filipino music, perform traditional dances, and prepare Filipino food.
While actively participating in embassy-initiated activities, Piko is also able to provide invaluable networking opportunities for its members.
"Kapag may kailangan, nagtutulungan kami, lalo na yung mga seniors (If there’s a need, we help each other out, especially the seniors)," Arquiza said.
The group also offers information on available scholarship programs for people interested in studying in South Korea.
A common challenge faced by the students is the language barrier.
"Isang criticism sa mga Pilipino ay hindi daw tayo kasing-galing ng mga Japanese o Chinese sa Korean (One criticism against Filipinos is that we’re not as fluent in Korean as the Japanese or the Chinese)," she explained, adding that Filipinos make up for it by establishing a reputation for being adept in English.
Nevertheless, the Korean academic system helps students further develop discipline and dedication.
"You have no choice but to be competitive," Arquiza claimed, praising the Korean students' propensity for hard work and skillful time management. "Pagbalik ng estudyante sa Pilipinas, dala-dala iyon (A student returning to the Philippines will bring that home)," she said.
Several schools offer competitive scholarship programs on a regular basis and in varying fields. For example, the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology has a continuing program dedicated for graduate studies in finance for government employees.
The embassy advises interested applicants to periodically visit the websites of Korean schools to check for announcements and the detailed eligibility and documentary requirements. Some schools even accept online applications.
Apart from the students, the embassy also works closely with Korea-based Filipino educators, many of whom are on short-term faculty exchange programs.
The Resource Persons Group, an association of Filipino professors in South Korea, has undertaken several activities that included the publication of a weekly column in a Korean newspaper. They also give the embassy important policy inputs.
"People-to-people exchange between the Philippines and South Korea is continuously expanding," Cruz said.
"It is my hope that our students, once they complete their study here, are able to return to the Philippines and apply the skills and knowledge they would have acquired from a country like South Korea—a country that has become a cultural hub and an economic powerhouse in a span of only one generation," he added.

[East Sea(10)] Usage of ‘East Sea’ in scientific, reference literature

Portion of the copy of the di Plano Carpini map of 1434. Maereum Orientale (EastSea) is clearly visible near the upper right portion of the land masses.

This is the 10th in a series of contributions and interview articles exploring standardization issues of the geographic names -- the “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan.” Various views on the geographic name of the sea body between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago will be presented in the hopes of raising awareness of the controversy. -- Ed.Norman Cherkis became involved in East Sea/Sea of Japan issues in 1995. Among his responsibilities is as a consultant to the Korean Hydrographic and Oceanographic Administration regarding Korean seafloor toponyms in the East Sea. He is a vocal advocate for the adoption of usage of “East Sea” as an alternate name for Sea of Japan, and has published a number of papers on the subject, including a reference list of almost 700 papers that have been published in non-Korean journals.He is also involved in finding an international settlement to ensure that Dokdo is permanently recognized worldwide as South Korean territory. He was a participant and discussant in the recent International Dokdo Symposium in Washington D.C. He is an active member of the Advisory Committee on Undersea Features of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and a long-standing member of the Subcommittee on Undersea Feature Names of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, both of which deal with seafloor toponyms.Cherkis has more than 45 years of experience in the field of marine geosciences. His specialty is seafloor mapping (bathymetry), and his work has included compilation of new, state-of-the-knowledge bathymetric charts in the regions of the East/Japan Sea, Arctic and sub-Arctic Oceans and seas, Persian Gulf, Eastern Mediterranean Sea, North and South Atlantic Oceans, Eastern and Central Pacific Ocean and the Southern Ocean. He was the principal investigator on 22 major marine geoscience programs and a participant on 16 other programs. For the past 11 years, he has operated his own business, Five Oceans Consultants, Ltd., providing consulting services and expertise to public-, private-, non-profit- and academic-sector organizations around the world.Background:Maritime toponyms refer to large and small bodies of water and to undersea features. Surface regions i.e., “seas” and “oceans,” have been delineated and boundaries have been published in the International Hydrographic Bureau publication, S-23, of which the last edition was published in 1953. Some of the names have been used for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years as in the case of the “East Sea.” The present-day international maritime community, including most governmental agencies however, has been using the term, “Sea of Japan,” exclusively for that body of water for most of the last 100 years or so. A new edition of publication S-23 has been planned for the past 20 years, but because of disagreements between certain members of the IHO, no final text has been distributed, and until the disagreeing parties resolve their differences, the publication of a revised S-23 is impossible. The reason for using the Sea of Japan term is mainly because Imperial Japan aggressively annexed Korea in the early 20th century, and for the next 40 years, Japan embarked on a campaign to systematically remove all vestiges of Korean heritage, including the Korean language.This practice continued until the end of the World War II in 1945. After cessation of hostilities, the Korean nation was reestablished in the company of nations of the world and the Korean language was likewise resurrected. Underscoring the importance of the sea’s name is the new South Korean national anthem which has, as its first two words, “Dong Hae …” which translates to “East Sea“ in English. The use of the toponym, “East Sea” or, in Korean, “Dong Hae” can be traced back at least two millennia. At that time, ancient China dominated the region and used the term East Sea to indicate that direction from their eastern coastline. The Chinese documents that eluded destruction during informational “purges” of several Chinese emperors over the past 2,000 years are now housed in great historical libraries mostly located in China and Korea. In South Korea, a reference to Dong Hae appears on a stele to King Gwanggaeto and dates to the year 414 of the Common Era.The name East Sea was established for at least 1,000 years before Japan was even known to exist to the Western World. The first Western reference to the East Sea is attributed to a world map created in the 13th century, outlining the travels of Giovanni di Plano Carpini in eastern and Central Asia between 1245- 1247, C.E. That map is unfortunately lost, but a copy from ca.1434 is known to exist, and it presently resides at Yale University.

Moving toward the 21st century we must pause, because in March 1969, the National Geographic Society -- an international geography and map publisher of great regard throughout the world -- published a map of Korea on page 308 of an article that shows the name, East Sea used as an alternate name for the Sea of Japan.

Presently, all major producers of family, school and scholarly atlases, e.g., the Times Atlas, Rand-McNally World Atlas, Langenscheidt Publishers Atlas, Collins World Atlas, National Geographic World Atlas, et al., all give equal importance to the body of water called the East Sea and/or the Sea of Japan.

East Sea/Sea of Japan toponyms

East Sea/Sea of Japan toponyms discussed here deal mainly with features completely outside of the territorial limits of the nations that border the region, i.e., beyond 12 nautical miles from the shores of Korea, Japan and Russia.Early 20th century maps note the existence of the Korea/Tsushima Strait, that body of water that separates Korea and Japan and though which a branch of the oceanographically important Kuroshio Current flows northward. The Strait contains a historically Japanese island, Tsushima, hence it was given the name, Tsushima Strait a bit over 100 years ago, during the beginning of the colonial annexation period. However, a significant number of Western publications, dating from the middle 1850s, show it as Korea Strait, or the equivalent in other Indo European tongues, e.g., as ”detroit de Coreé“ in French. Some of these maps also refer to the East Sea as “La Mer du Coreé,” or “Sea of Korea.” No organization dedicated standardization of maritime geographic terminology body, e.g., the IHB, existed at the time.Tsushima Basin is a name applied to a more-or less-circular depression in the southwestern-most East Sea/Sea of Japan. According to IHO/IOC publication B-6 guidelines, “The first choice of a specific term, where feasible, should be one associated with a geographical feature: e.g., Aleutian Ridge, Aleutian Trench …” The nearest geographical feature to this depression is Ulleung-do (Ulleung Island), and therefore, according to the IHO/IOC principles for naming undersea features, should be called Ulleung Basin because the basin is immediately adjacent to Ulleung-do. However, since the name Tsushima Basin has been previously used in the scientific and geographic literature, and almost exclusively between 1910 and 1970 due to political events that will not again revisited. Tsushima Basin should be retained as a variant name within gazetteers, or used concurrently with Ulleung Basin, as can be seen in the appended reference list.During the 20th meeting of the GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (GEBCO-SCUFN) in Monaco in June of 2007, the recently-formed Korean Committee on Undersea Feature Names (K-CUF) submitted ten names for approval by the Sub-Committee. Those names are Anyongbok Seamount, Gangwon Plateau, Hupo Bank, Igyuwon Seamount, Kimmu Seamount, Onnuri Basin, Saenal Basin, Ulleung Plateau, Usan Escarpment and Usan Trough. Most of these features were recently discovered in the East Sea/Sea of Japan by Korean research ships. (fig. 3). All of these features were approved by unanimous vote of the GEBCO Sub-Committee and were placed in the GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names (IHO-IOC Publication, B-8).
Locations of undersea toponyms. (After: Ocean Atlas of Korea East Sea;

NORI, Republic of Korea, 2007)At the 21st meeting of GEBCO-SCUFN in mid-May, 2008, at which time the Korean Committee on Undersea Feature Names (K-CUFN) proposed eight new undersea feature names, four of which are in the East Sea: Jugam Ridge, Ulsan Seachannel, Usan Ridge and Wangdol Reef. All of the names were approved by the GEBCO-SCUFN committee and added to the GEBCO gazetteer.Statistics:In 2006, an extensive literature search of non-Korean-language publications was initiated to locate print media articles that support the Korean position that alternate names and dual usage of the term, “East Sea” can be and have been used within the science community. At the time of this writing, 694 papers have been located in published literature and governmental sources which contain East Sea/Sea of Japan toponyms. For relevance in this paper only, the subaerial toponyms have been limited to the following: East Sea/Sea of Japan.Of the 694 papers, 519 contain the toponym, East Sea, in either the title or in the text. Further, of the entire list of 580 references, 309 contain the names of non-Korean authors, many of whom are from Japan.

KU to run 'Korea University Studies' course

KU to run 'Korea University Studies' course

Korea University (KU) reminds people of “Minjok Godae” and “makgeolli” among other things. “Minjok Godae” means “people’s Korea University” and makgeolli is the milky traditional Korean alcoholic drink that has been loved by everyday folk for hundreds of years. The words compose the key elements that conjure up the brand image of KU, the nation’s first university established by Koreans. They may sound a bit outdated but they are the reasons that make its students and graduates proud of their alma mater. It’s also the base on which the school hopes to attain globalization. “I believe all globalization efforts should start from our own tradition. What’s truly Korean can become truly global. Knowing ourselves is very important before pursuing globalization,” KU President Lee Ki-su said in an interview at his office in Seoul. Under his leadership, the school has taken a leap forward in globalization — forming a lot of alliances with top universities and academic organizations around the world, attracting more students from diverse countries, and expanding lectures taught in English. As its globalization drive finds its groove, Lee is moving to give students the opportunity to do some soul-searching regarding their own school. Lee said the school will establish a course for “Korea University Studies” to teach students all about the school, beginning next semester. “Our students must learn about their own school and its founding spirit of ‘save the nation with education,’” Lee said. “Korea University’s frontier spirit has been embodied in various initiatives for more than a hundred years — from fighting for the nation’s independence to its contribution to democratization and industrialization. Some Korean history professors and I will teach students about Korea University’s spirit and culture.” In addition, Lee said the school will pay greater attention to supporting and promoting Korean studies at foreign universities. The school has provided assistance to the Korea Foundation to establish courses for Korean language or Korean studies at universities abroad. It has maintained a close relationship with Tubingen University in Germany. Lee said the school will expand ties with Waseda University of Japan and Peking University to form a “tripartite academic alliance” on Korean and Asian studies. “Korea University will continue to make efforts to promote Korean and Asian studies and foster exchanges with other schools around the world,” Lee said. He said that the G20 summit, to be held in Seoul in November, will also be a good opportunity for schools belonging to the member nations to strengthen exchanges. “Korea University as well as other schools are planning diverse programs ahead of the G20 summit. I hope it will expand to something like a ‘G20 University summit,’” Lee said.

source:Korea Times

Sacheon International Percussion Festival, Thur – Sun, 29 Jul- 1 Aug 2010, Gyeongsangnam-do

The International Percussion Festival mainly led by professor Choi Jong-shil, the pioneer of Samulnori, is the nation’s first festival devoted to the percussion instrument and its musicians. This 4-day festival will be held to promote the excellence of Samcheonpo Korean farm music with 12 episodes, which was designated as Intangible Asset No. 11 and the Hanryo Maritime culture.

During the festival period, the Percussion Instrument Festival will also be held with the participation of world famous percussionists from the US, Taiwan, Japan, France and Brazil.

The Percussion Instrument Exhibition will display 1,000 kinds of musical instruments. What’s more, there will be a World Percussion Musical Academic Convention, a National Percussion Musical Contest, and a Percussion Musical Experience.

Date: Thursday-Sunday, 29 July- 1 August, 2010
Venue: All around the Sacheon City and Samcheonpo Bridge Memorial Park, Gyeongsangnam-do
Getting there: Seoul Nambu Terminal (stop 341) → Use the express bus headed towards Samcheonpo (first bus comes at 9:30am, and last bus comes at 8:00pm / travel time: 4hrs) → Samcheonpo Terminal → Take a taxi to Samcheonpo Bridge Park (comes out to about ￦3,000)
Info: 055-835-6493~7

Please visit: http://www.sacheonpercussion.org

Aqua Festival, 28 Jul - 1 Aug 2010, Jeollanam-do, Korea

This event, which will take place around Tamjin-gang River and its ecological park and nearby dam, will allow wooden boat rides, or a wooden raft or rope boat, which is tied to the shore. Other fun activities include fishing with bare hands, playing at the ice pool, making pottery, riding on an ox cart or rodeo.

Date: 28 July- 1 August 2010

Venue:Tamjingang River, Jangheung-gun, Jeollanam-do

Admission: Free. Note that some events/activities may charge a fee.

Info: 061-860-0224, 0380, 061-863-7071(Weekends) (Korean only) or KTO's 02-1330 (English, Chinese, Japanese). Event website in Korean only.

Getting there: It takes more than two hours to get from Yongsan Station to Gwangju by KTX. Transfer to bus heading to Jangheung.

AustCham - LOHAS Working Luncheon, Fri 30 July 2010, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seoul

AustCham is organizing Working Luncheon on 30th of July with Adam Horler, President LOHAS Asia Pacific will present "LOHASians emerging fast - market trends and opportunities in Korea".

LOHAS, the acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, describes a market segment focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice. Products range from natural and organic products, integrated health care, sustainable buildings and furniture, eco tourism, and alternative transport and energy. Join this intimate, open discussion style presentation to hear the latest LOHAS research on Asian markets. What opportunities could there be for your business?

Date: Friday 30 July 2010

Time: 11:45 registration for 12:00 noon lunch

Cost: Set lunch menu
W45,000 members / W55,000 non-members

RSVP by 10AM Wednesday 28 July via AustCham website or email mary-jane@lohas-asia.org (limited 20)

Bucheon Intl Performance Art Festival, 30 July-1 Aug 2010, Bucheon

Date: Friday 30 July to Sunday 01 August
Times: Friday from 3 PM to Sunday 6PM

Venue: Bucheon Station Even Hall (www.bucheon.go.kr)

Info: websites in Korean only - try KTO's 02-1330 number for details

Programme includes visual performances by 4 International Artists Community artists:
Hong O-Bong (Bucheon)-visual performance (July 30th)
Dara Sheahan (Ireland)-music performance (July 31st)
Eric Scott Nelson (USA)-visual performance (August 1st)
Anthony Ragucci (USA)-visual performance (August 1st)

Performers:
Friday 30th July:
1. Pak Mi-Roo(Seoul)-music performance
2. Ji Chi-kwon(Bucheon)-music performance
3. Midori Kadokura(Japan)-visual performance
4. OMAYUMI(Japan)-visual performance
5. Mok Chiu-Yu(Hongkong)-visual drama performance
6. Gang Seng-Suk(Seoul)-visual performance
7. Bea Hee-kweon(Seoul)-visual performance
8. Hong O-Bong(Bucheon)-visual performance (IAC ARTIST)

Saturday 31st July:
1. Catherine Khounlivong(France)-music performance
2. Dara Sheahan(Ireland)-music performance (IAC ARTIST)
3. Myvanwy Birds(Ireland)-music performance
4. Tim Koelling(UAS)-music performance
5. Greg James Hanford(U.K.)-music performance
6. Azhaar(Australia)-dance performance
7. G.T. Arpe(USA)-music performance
8. Shim Yeong-Chol(Seoul)-visual performance

Sunday 1st August:
1. Teruyuki Tanaka(Japan)-visual performance
2. Nopawan Sirivejkul(Thailand)-visual performance
3. Eric Scott(USA)-visual performance (IAC ARTIST)
4. Waldemar Tatarzuk(Poland)-visual performance
5. Anthony Ragucci(USA)-visual performance (IAC ARTIST)
6. Yoon Myeong-Kuk(Goryeong)-visual performance
7. Do Ji-Ho(Gimcheon)-visual performance

Please visit: http://blog.naver.com/hongobong

Aqua Festival, 28 Jul - 1 Aug 2010, Jeollanam-do, Korea

This event, which will take place around Tamjin-gang River and its ecological park and nearby dam, will allow wooden boat rides, or a wooden raft or rope boat, which is tied to the shore. Other fun activities include fishing with bare hands, playing at the ice pool, making pottery, riding on an ox cart or rodeo.

Date: 28 July- 1 August 2010

Venue:Tamjingang River, Jangheung-gun, Jeollanam-do

Admission: Free. Note that some events/activities may charge a fee.

Info: 061-860-0224, 0380, 061-863-7071(Weekends) (Korean only) or KTO's 02-1330 (English, Chinese, Japanese). Event website in Korean only.

Getting there: It takes more than two hours to get from Yongsan Station to Gwangju by KTX. Transfer to bus heading to Jangheung.

Please visit: http://www.jhwater.kr

U.S. teens learn Korean in program

U.S. teenagers are taking part in an intensive Korean language course in a classroom.

This is not out of the norm at Sogang University’s Korean Language Education Center, but these students, all of whom are 15-18 years old, are here as part of a special program sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Each student had their own unique reason for coming to Korea and joining the National Security Language Initiative for Youth.

“I started watching Korean dramas and listening to Korean music and I got tired of watching them with subtitles,” said Zaneh Williams from Maryland.

“This is a chance to see the world on my own and have a bit more independence,” said Gabrielle Hanley from Virginia.

The students study Korean for four hours in the afternoon, with a strict “no English” policy.

Learning Korean is “fun, but really intensive. We learned reading and writing in about a week,” said Gabrielle.

But she said understanding Korean vocabulary and sentences is the hardest part.

Even students in the beginner classes have already mastered Hangeul, the Korean alphabet.

These students are not only here for Korean, but also to learn the culture.

“We’re partnered up with university students around Seoul to take a group of us out to different places,” said Gabrielle.

U.S. teenagers attend a Korean language course at Sogang University’s Korean Language Education Center in Seoul. Yonhap News

The students also live with host families to help speed up their progress with the language and culture.

“The host families have really been taking care of us.”

“Hanging out with the kids (host sisters) a lot, they’ve shown me real Korean life. We do a lot of fun stuff together. I really like how they value the family, and family togetherness,” she said.

The students had to compete against 1,500 other applicants for 600 spots. They were chosen based on academic performance, essays and interviews.

“I’m grateful for this opportunity. (The government) never told us that they would be giving us a full stipend. You don’t get this opportunity too often,” said Zaneh.

The students are encouraged to continue their studies in Korean after the program, and that is what some students plan on doing.

Zaneh plans to study Korean when she starts her college career. When asked what she will do with her knowledge, she said “either work for the government, or I plan to go to law school and be an international lawyer.”

Before coming to Korea, the students answered a questionnaire to help match them up with host families. The host families are all volunteers.

The NSLI-Y, originally started by the George W. Bush administration, offered students a chance to study Chinese and Arabic during summer sessions in China and Arabic-speaking countries. In 2009 after Barack Obama took office as U.S. president, the program expanded to include Hindi, Korean, Persian (Farsi), Russian and Turkish. And now, students may study for up to a year. These languages are not traditionally taught in the U.S school system. The languages were chosen based on the political importance and number of people speaking the language, among other things.

During the NSLI-Y’s first year, 2006, it funded only 46 students. Now, the 2009 program has increased its participants to 390 students, more than the previous three years combined.

The purpose of the program, as described in a grant proposal, is to increase mutual understanding, strengthen ties and develop friendly peaceful relations between the people of the U.S. and other countries. Through it, the U.S. government wishes to prepare these students to become global world leaders.

source:Korea Herld

concert calendar

“Summer IS+land”: K-pop artists SG Wannabe, MC Mong, Min Kyung-hoon, Shin Jung-hwan and Maybe will hold a concert welcoming the heat of summer at the Yonsei Culture and Art Center on July 24. Each singer will not only have his/her own stage, but also perform with other artists to mix it up. Tickets cost 55,000 to 66,000 won. For more information, call 1544-1555.

“Danny Jung, 11 am”: The first Korean saxophonist to be listed on the Billboard chart, Danny Jung will look to bring his cool and breezy renditions of both local and international pop songs popular with to the Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Complex on July 29. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Jung has worked with many Korean celebrities such as soprano Sumi Jo and a legendary rock star Seo Tai-ji. Tickets cost 15,000 won. For more information, call 1577-7766. 　

“Hoyoung 2 Ocean”: Taking on a concept of the summer season, pop star and former G.O.D. member Son Ho-young will stage a solo show under the theme of “vacation” at the KT&G Sangsang Art Hall in Seoul from July 8-25. Tickets cost 77,000 won. For more information, call (02) 3404-4314 or visit www.sangsangarthall.com.

“Stevie Wonder Live in Seoul”: Fifteen years after his first show in Korea, “Eighth Wonder of the World,” Motown legend Stevie Wonder will be in Seoul next month to call on his Korean fans and tell them he loves them once again. As part of Hyundai Card’s large scale concert series, the multi-Grammy Award winning hit-maker will stage his latest show at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena for a one-night only performance on Aug. 10.
Tickets for the upcoming concert range from 196,000 won to 77,000 won. For more information on tickets, visit www.privia.hyundaicard.com, www.ticketlink.co.kr, or www.ticket.interpark.com.

“Smashing Pumpkins Live in Seoul”: Ten years since the band’s first concert in 2000 on the eve of their subsequent split -- alternative rockers Smashing Pumpkins will be back in Seoul next month to perform songs off their latest release, “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope Vol. 1: Songs for a Sailor,” part of an epic 44-track project set to be spread out to 11 four-track records. Gone will be the original members James Iha, D’Arcy Wretzky, Melissa Auf Der Maur and Jimmy Chamberlain when frontman and songwriter Billy Corgan comes to Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena Aug. 14 with an all new line-up. Tickets for the concert are set from 88,000 won to 99,000 won. For more information, visit www.ticket.interpark.com or call 1544-1555.

source:Korea Herald